At the ninth time of trying, Wayne Madsen is one game away from NatWest T20 Blast finals day.

Derbyshire Falcons will play in the quarter-finals of the competition for only the second time when they take on Hampshire at the 3aaa County Ground tomorrow (6.30pm).

The 33-year-old right-hander played a leading part in seeing the Falcons through the group stages and produced another outstanding performance in the win that clinched their progress against Worcestershire on Friday.

His fourth half-century of the campaign – equalling a county best set by Luis Reece – made him the first Derbyshire player to hit more than 500 T20 runs in a season and also took him beyond 2,000 career T20 runs.

Another 105 runs will see Madsen past the mark held by Wes Durston for the most T20 runs by a Derbyshire player and while he would love to pass that mark this season, the former skipper says he would sacrifice all the personal accolades to get his hands on the trophy at Edgbaston on September 2.

“I would happily settle for three noughts as long as we win the trophy at Edgbaston,” he said.

“I’m very proud of how I’ve been able to contribute to us being successful in this season’s competition and not only with the bat.

“I’ve really enjoyed getting the chance to bowl as well and take some wickets. T20 is a great game to express yourself and show of some skills and it has gone well for us this season.”

Madsen became the first player in the country to reach the 200 points landmark in the Professional Cricketers’ Association most valuable player rankings for this season’s competition with his 55 runs and

1-20 bowling – his 13th wicket of the campaign.

The PCA player of the month for July moved to 211 points in the Worcestershire win to top of the competition rankings at the end of the group stages.

That makes it even harder to believe that he was so often overlooked as a T20 player through much of his early career at the club.

The last – and so far only – time Derbyshire made it to the quarter-finals came in 2005. None of the current squad was at the club then but Madsen says there is still plenty of T20 big match experience in the team.

“We have got Gary Wilson, Daryn Smit, Hardus Viljoen and Imran Tahir who all know what it is like to play in winning T20 sides and that has really helped us this season,” added Madsen.

“We have had some tough games and have come through them and that is where their experience has really helped.

“We have had to eke out close wins both chasing totals down and defending with the ball and those are very good signs for us to take into the quarter-finals.”

This will be the first time Derbyshire have faced a side from the South Group in the competition but, crucially, they will have home advantage.

Madsen believes that means Hampshire have more reason to fear the unknown than the Falcons have.

“This is unchartered territory for Derbyshire, I know, but we are all excited about that,” he said.

“For me, it has been almost nine years of waiting and it feels pretty special to get into the quarter-finals.

“Hampshire have a strong side and they have a lot more experience in this competition than we have but we are the home team and that counts for a lot.

“We have only lost once at home in the group stages and that was a very close match against Notts.

“Hampshire will have been confident of a home tie as well but they were heavily beaten by Somerset in their last match and they will not be looking forward to coming to Derby.

“Our home crowd has been great this season. We could feel the excitement building as we got closer to the win on Friday and that really helped us.

“The key against Hampshire will be to go out there, relax and have fun. That has been the way John Wright has been asking us to play all season and I think it has shown in the way we have played.

“Everybody has contributed to our success this season and I’m sure someone will step forward again to lead us through against Hampshire. We are only three wins away from winning this and that is exciting.”

Tickets for the match are already selling well and prices are £22 for non-members or £20 for members when bought in advance from the club’s website. Paying on the night will cost £25.